


Sacred

by the_ren_lover



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Twilight Series - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Multi, Slow Romance, Twilight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:27:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25938895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_ren_lover/pseuds/the_ren_lover
Summary: A tragic fire, a small mountain town, and a mysterious boy who you’re undeniably head over heels for; all these things have turned your life upside down. Will you unravel the mysteries surrounding Barre and your family’s past, or will you fall victim to the same curse that claimed your mother’s life.
Relationships: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne | Lancer/Reader, Emiya Kiritsugu/Irisviel von Einzbern
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Prologue: The Circle

When your body hit the water, crumpling from the sheer force, the pain didn’t immediately register; the adrenaline coursing through your veins made sure of that. You had already been running for what felt like miles, pursued by something entirely inhuman. All the trees and brambles and shrubs were forgotten as you weaved towards an undetermined goal, hopefully towards something recognisable. Pushed to the limits of your humanity it had finally overtaken you, a flash of sharp teeth and entirely unnatural features, and with a swipe of it’s mighty clawed hand you had been thrown from the nearby ledge. 

You had anticipated this moment for months, since the moment you first found out Diarmuid’s secret. It was only a matter of time before your involvement in the existence of magecraft ended in your untimely demise. Instead of fighting the current dragging your body into the depths of the lake, you closed your eyes. There was something peaceful about the rushing of water around your ears. Every thought in your head was with the servant who had protected you for so long.

Diarmuid. His name was like a chant in your head, a reverent prayer. Diarmuid, Diarmuid, Diarmuid. Part of you wished he was there, accompanying you on your silent journey to the bottom of the lake. Not that he would accept your demise. Knowing him, he would fight to prevent the end of your life till his last breath as he had been for months, averting disaster after disaster. You didn’t blame him for any of it, just as you didn’t blame him for the predicament you were in at the moment. It was all because of your terrible luck.

Opening your eyes, you watched the light get further away, filtering through the gentle tossing waves above and reflecting off the endless sea of blue around your body. It had felt cold, jarring even, when you hit the surface but now it seemed to warm around you, holding you as Diarmuid barely ever could. Closing your eyes again, you let yourself think his name a little while longer. 

The inevitability of your death didn’t scare you anymore. Even as you breathed water in like air around you no panic marred your peace. Though life had been so short, so utterly minuscule in the face of Diarmuid’s eternity, you felt content. You knew you didn’t get to have an eternity like he and his found family did. It was good enough to be able to leave quietly, thinking of the only man you would ever love, instead of slowly watching him drift away as the years turned your hair grey and your skin sallow. Humanity was a burden you would happily bear to your grave.

Humanity. You had never given the concept of humanity and inhumanity much thought before meeting the servant’s who dwelled within the woods. Deeply, you knew that Diarmuid was inherently inhuman, created to serve and kill, and yet… There was something deeply human within him that you noticed more with every day you spent at his side, little flaws that proved he was not all powerful and all knowing, nor were his companions. He had quirks, things that perfect beings molded by god wouldn’t be given. Flashes of a man were there deep down buried in his endless perfection, reminders that he was human once. Having humanity and being human, you decided, were not inextricably connected.

Your lungs were starting to burn now, filling up and weighing you down like a brick settled within your cavernous chest. It was as if you didn’t truly exist anymore, your body turned into a hollow plastic vessel, your mind simply a little music box playing when it was wound up tight simply waiting to run out of time and die away into the night. Was it night? You found it was hard to remember. No matter how foggy things got within your mind, though, one thing was crystal clear.

It was easy to see his face within your mind’s eye, all sharp corners and smooth skin and golden eyes that could pierce your soul from a mile away. His smile was familiar, a warm thing. He always wondered why you chose him, but loving him was never a choice, it simply was. Being with him felt right, spending soft stolen moments with each other in secluded corners of the forest or the darkness of your moon-bathed bedroom. You could almost imagine his arms around you, providing the oppressive pressure that bombarded you from all sides now. 

In your haze, you saw an angel descending from above, all smooth white skin and dark hair. When it grasped you around the waist and began to drag you upwards towards the ever brightening light of what must have been heaven you curled instinctively closer to it’s warmth. How did you manage to get into heaven anyway? From the moment you had moved to this godforsaken town all you had done is tear people apart and break things. It made no sense that whatever god existed would be sending you up instead of down.

When you and the angel broke the surface of the water you were met with the strange urge to cough and gasp for air at the same time. Was this actually a trip hell? Perhaps your eternal torment was to drown for the rest of time, never being able to fully finish your death and move on. It was a fitting punishment, never being able to join whoever awaited you on your assigned side of the great heavenly divide. Through the ever growing muddle of colors that made up the world around you saw that the angel’s eyes were gold, the same brilliant gold of your beloved Diarmuid’s eyes. 

As darkness began to gather around the edges of your vision you closed your eyes for what may have been the final time. Thoughts raced through your mind, all the important memories you wanted to relive one last time before the grand finale. You found it humorous in a sick sort of way that having your life flash before your eyes as you died wasn’t just a trope used in books and movies. After a moment, you realised that Diarmuid took up quite a large portion of the memories you held closest to your heart.

Seeing Diarmuid for the first time, your first dreams of him, seeing his true form, the first night he spent in your room; the list went on infinitely. It was difficult to settle down for the longest sleep of your life, especially as the sounds of shouts around you began to ring out.  _ That’s hell for sure _ , you thought, before trying to pinpoint the moment your time in Barre had truly begun. If you were going to remember the whole story, it was worth it to start at the beginning. 


	2. New Beginnings

The car trip to your new home was long and uneventful filled with rest stops and cheap motels. At least you were able to enjoy the weather. It was a mild warmth all the way across the southern states, the kind that reminded you of sunlit beach trips and picnics to the park. That wasn’t really an option anymore, was it?

In the north-eastern tip of the US, buried in the heart of Vermont’s mountains, was a former mining town by the name of Barre. Barre was, in plain terms, the most boring place you’d ever seen. With a small high street and endless hills surrounding it, the town was the complete opposite of everything you had known. 

California had been a dream. Something that now seemed so far away and aetherial it could have been imagined. You had had friends, places to go, a plan for your life, and yet it all disappeared in one fell swoop the decimated your entire life. The fire had taken everything and left you with nothing.

Your mother's face was still freshly implanted in your mind, bringing with it all the good things in the world. You remembered her voice as if she was sitting next to you in the cab of your beat-up truck, eager to see you grow, happy to know you’re taken care of. The fire hadn’t even spared her. You didn’t have the strength to cry anymore, though, you’d wasted all that a while ago.

Left with almost no worldly possessions and no direct family at the age of 17, you were faced with a strange choice. Either you could enter Sacramento’s foster system for several months and continue to live there until your senior year ended, at which point you would be expected to live on your own, or, you could move in with your godfather across the country. It was a difficult choice, more difficult than any you had ever made before, but in the end you chose to pack up all your remaining things into the back of your truck and head towards the future. California just brought back bad memories anyways.

Kiritsugu Emiya, your legal godfather, was an enigma. You were sure you had met him at least once through your mother and yet you couldn’t put a face to the name. Whoever he was, your mother trusted him enough to leave you to him in case of the worst, and yet something about him seemed… off. In your attempts to contact him you found he had no social media, and you were only able to find his phone number when going through legal documents. When you finally managed to reach out, he was all too accepting of the situation.

He said that there was a property owned by your family near his home in Barre. You were free to move there and use is as you’d like, even after you turned 18 and potentially moved away. The home had no debt and belonged entirely to you, you were told you could do with it what you saw fit to. As the initial phone conversation ended, Kiritsugu’s voice seemed to darken as he said you were more than welcome to live under his protection until you were able to fend for yourself. You assumed he meant until you could make your own money to pay the bills but something in his voice made you feel like he was inferring otherwise. 

So there you were, truck laden with small cardboard boxes that held the entire world as you revved the engine, pushing your way up the steep hill that led to your new home. God, why did it have to be so steep? The mountains came from every direction, cradling the roads as you drove and threatening to bury you in a rock slide if the winds changed. You couldn’t deny, though, that it was beautiful in it’s own way.

Fall was just starting to truly die away, with bright oranges, reds, and yellows falling in flurries and settling down on the mucky green and brown ground below. The seasons seemed to truly change here in a way they didn’t back in California. Though you had travelled with your mother, seen bits of the world through the eyes of a child, you saw the landscape with new eyes now. What once would have brought wonder now brought annoyance. Falling leaves meant raking, and soon there would be snow, which meant shoveling and driving on icy inclines for months… yippee. 

Finally, with a massive rattle, your truck overtook it’s last hill, turning quickly into the nearby neighborhood where you would be spending the next year at least. It wasn’t ugly by any means, but it was quaint, so different from the endless bustle of the city. There, though, you wouldn’t have been able to afford an apartment, here you were living rent free so you couldn’t complain. You recognized your new home not by it’s exterior, but by the little balloons at the end of the driveway and the people standing on the front porch. Oh god, a welcome party.

The driveway wasn’t steep, thank god, and you parked easily on the asphalt, hopping out of your car and getting hit by the chill in the air. It was only October, how could it be so cold? At your approach, you took stock of the people standing in front of you. There was a woman who looked about your mother’s age holding the hand of a child who could have been her twin. Everything about them was pale, their hair, their skin, their clothes… the only thing that broke the pattern was their eyes, which were both a mysterious brown that almost glinted red in the sunlight. Their smiles were inviting, so you had no qualms about them.

The next person you noticed was a boy about your age. With a puff of bright red hair and a thousand watt smile you could see how people would find him handsome in his own way. Despite the bitter chill in the air he seemed perfectly content in his cotton t-shirt and jeans. Did the people up here just get born with natural cold resistance or were you just born extra sensitive? The boy seemed friendly enough, and deep in the recesses of your mind you made a note to ask for his number in the hopes of making your transition into school a little easier. 

Finally, the largest of the looming shadows approached you. Everything about him seemed dark, like someone had plucked a stormcloud from the sky and breathed it into his form. It was silly to see him next to the joyful pale woman and child with his jet black hair, heavy black peacoat, and thousand yard stare. Even his eyes seemed empty, irises an almost unnatural grey. With his air of mystery and darkness you assumed he must be Kiritsugu, the man who held your life in his hands.

He crossed the yard in a few long strides, clapping his hands together loudly and greeting you in the driveway. “So you’re y/n? I am Kiritsugu Emiya. Welcome to Barre, I hope your drive was uneventful,” Though his face revealed no care at all, his eyes did seem to soften almost imperceptibly and there was a hidden warmth in his voice that took the edge off your anxieties. 

“That would be me,” you responded. Kiritsugu offered up a hand and you shook it, formalizing the entire ordeal. “The drive wasn’t bad though I’m not used to all the hills yet,” 

“Kerry,” The white woman swept in, then, with a wave of maternal energy you were unused to after the last few weeks, “it’s so rude that you haven’t introduced us yet,” Before you knew what was happening her arms were around you and she was wrapping you in the most genuine hug you had received since before the fire. Where Kiritsugu was all sharp edges she was soft curves, balancing out his extreme dark with her neverending light. You already felt a kinship with her though you didn’t even know her name. 

For the first time Kiritsugu cracked a small smile, wrapping an arm around the woman’s waist when she finally released you from her vice-like grip. “This is my wife, Iri,” he gestured to Iri. As soon as she heard her name she reached out and took your hand between hers, face bright.

“I’m so excited to get to know you,” her voice was extremely gentle, going along with her entire aesthetic. 

As if on cue, the little girl you saw beside Iri ran up to you, tugging gently on your sleeve. “I’m Ilya!” She said brightly, “my big brother has been really excited waiting for you to get here!” Your face flushed, cheeks getting hot. Someone was waiting for you to get here? When you looked over you saw that your mortification was most definitely shared by the red haired boy, who was rubbing the back of his neck, sheepish. 

“Come on, Illya,” The boy spoke and his voice was nice, in an objective way. He was the kind of person you could see girls falling for while he remained clueless to his charm. There was something nice about being seen again for who you were as a person as opposed to being ogled over as the girl who lost everything in a fire, but the boy’s naive attempts at flirtation still made you feel a little… wrong. “Guess it’s my turn for introductions! I’m Shirou,” 

Taking in the group as a whole, they made a nice family. It drove a stake of jealousy into your heart to see Illya and Shirou with their parents, happy, loved. Just a few months ago that had been  _ you  _ spending time with your mother, but in the end you were here across the country in the hands of people you had never met. Somehow, you managed to muster a smile despite the panging in your heart. “Nice to meet you Shirou. I’m probably gonna need a lot of help getting used to school, so thank you in advance for that,” 

If it was possible Shirou’s face seemed to light up even more. “Of course, I’m more than happy to help you out,” 

Clearing his throat, Kiritsugu got your attention once again. “Now that all of us are acquainted, we should show you the house.” HIs face seemed to have returned to it’s usual emotionless state, but you didn’t mind. 

Oh yes, the house. In all the commotion you hadn’t taken much time to actually look at the place you’d be staying. When you did finally take stock of the house in front of you, you found yourself pleasantly surprised. It was a two story home painted a soft eggshell, with the dearest little shutters on the windows. It’s age was obvious in its architecture, with a small, castle-like spire sticking out from the monotonous roof. Despite its age and lack of occupants for the past years, the house seemed very well maintained, with a trimmed flower garden lining the front wall and a small patch of tethered berry bushes settled off to the side of the yard. All in all, it looked far too nice compared to your tiny 2 bedroom apartment back in Sacramento. 

Kiritsugu produced a ring of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, swinging it open with a soft creak. As you passed him and entered the front room, you caught a whiff of tobacco off his coat. So he was a smoker? You didn’t think too much into it, you were too caught up in the sight of the room before you. Every bit of furniture seemed like an antique, ranging in date from the 80’s to maybe even the 20’s. It was a bit lavish to be honest, but the novelty of it made you warm. Your mother had put all this aside for you. You could feel her love even now.

While handing you the keys, Kiritsugu started explaining, “So, this is the living room. The kitchen and the study are down the hall. Upstairs is your room, the guest room, and your bathroom. There’s also a half bathroom through that door,” He gestured then towards a small wooden door across the room. It was an easy enough layout, you supposed. “The kitchen is fully stocked with essentials, though if you’re lacking anything I’m more than happy to have someone run back down to the store to get it. I assume you brought your own toiletries?”

Somehow, through the haze of information, you managed to nod. “Yeah, I have everything I need for school too. I don’t mean to sound rude, but do you know anywhere I could get a job around here? I have some money put away in savings but I don’t really want to use all of it, especially with college coming up…”

Kiritsugu’s laugh was an odd thing, especially coming from his stoic face. “Don’t worry about that. You can get a job for work experience if you wish, but I will be giving you money for anything that you need for yourself or the house. It would be a disgrace to your mother if I were to break my promise and not keep you and this house taken care of.”

Well, that was a relief. It was still awkward to take money from this family, though. As you started to protest, Iri swept in again to save the way. “Don’t worry about a single penny, we have far too much of it and I’m more than happy to help you with everything. Maybe we could even go shopping soon! It’s been far too long since I’ve been shopping with someone as pretty as you are,” Ah, so they were rich. That answered a lot of questions. 

Politely, you accepted. “Of course Mrs. Emiya, I would love to go shopping with you,” Her excitement was palpable, but Kiritsugu just continued to explain different features of the old house. It took about half an hour for everything to be explained in excruciating details and your meager belongings to be moved from their place in the bed of your truck into the front room. As the sun started to settle on the horizon, though, the Emiya family began to say their goodbyes. 

Illya, who had kept to herself and played in the yard for most of the introduction, simply waved and smiled from her seat in the car. Iri wrapped you in another tight hug and made you promise to call her and schedule your shopping trip. Shirou gave you his number and leaned in for a hug before chickening out and rushing to the car, much to Illya’s delight. Finally, Kiritsugu approached you, seeming much less mysterious than he had when you first met him.

“If you have any trouble in the office at school tomorrow, just have them give me a call,” he said, “I’ll see you on Friday to check in and get the bills squared away,” Before you even had a chance to thank him, he had turned away and started towards the car but, surprisingly, he paused and turned back to you. “One last thing. There’s a storm cellar door leading to the basement behind the house. There’s nothing down there but old storage and the boiler, but I figured you should know about it.” Ah, there was the suspicious, mysterious Kiritsugu you had spoken to over the phone. 

He got in the car and as if they had never been there in the first place, the Emiya family was gone. All that remained were the little balloons on your driveway, blowing around in the breeze and taunting you with their joyful allure. Well, there was one hurdle jumped, next you needed to unpack. Before going back inside you grabbed the balloons in an attempt to make sure they didn’t pop and kill some unsuspecting member of the wildlife. 

When the door closed, you were finally alone. Time alone was something that you had missed since the fire. Every second you were with someone else, whether that someone was a friend who was letting you stay at their place, or a stranger at the store, or another kid or teacher with well wishes in the hallway at school. Now it was just you and your things in a house all your own. Something about that was extremely freeing. 

“First I get dinner,” you muttered to yourself, setting down the balloons, “then I unpack,” 

As promised, the kitchen was fully stocked with basics. Fruits and vegetables lined the two inner drawers while water, soda, snacks, sauces, eggs, and deli meat sat on the shelves, and everything was organic and name-brand. You wondered which member of the family had taken the time to pick out each and, every one of the items in your fridge and pantry, considering what you might need or want. You decided on a turkey sandwich for dinner before grabbing a few ingredients. 

The sandwich was good, even though every single dish in the house seemed to be as old as your furniture which made even eating a turkey sandwich seem fancy. Then, it was time to unpack. You only had a few boxes, and almost everything inside them was new, so it only took three trips up the stairs to lug everything up to your new room. The room itself… well it was a fairytale. 

A four-poster bed sat in the middle, made of some dark wood that had intricate designs carved on almost every inch. Over the bed sat a gauzy canopy, falling over the sides and creating a small curtain that hid the white, downy bedspread that covered the massive mattress. There was a desk with a brand new laptop sitting on it in the corner, a large dresser with dark wood that matched your bed, and on the far wall was a massive window with a padded bench underneath it, built into the wall.  _ That must be the spire thing _ you noted mentally. 

How could you be so lucky and so unlucky all together? You lost  _ everything _ . Your home, your only family, everything you had ever known was gone in the blink of an eye and yet you had been dropped into some sort of strange, idealized, Dickensian world where you were adopted by a rich, mysterious benefactor and saved from a life of poverty. Everything was all just so much. 

Before you could even unpack or get everything together you found yourself crying, something you hadn’t managed to do since you came home to firetrucks and police officers surrounding your smouldering flat. You cried for your losses, for the long journey you had made, for the struggles you would face in the morning. Through the sobs and wails you found, somehow, you felt much lighter. Despite the unpacked boxes waiting outside the door you drifted off into a fitful sleep, you could always deal with them tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!!! This was supposed to go up yesterday, but my wifi went out and ruined all my plans. Thankfully, everything is all good now! I hope you enjoyed and will leave me a comment with any thoughts or questions. See you next Saturday!


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